John 20
Hi all, the lesson this week is kinda lengthy so do give it a read and summarize some points. Hopefully we can try to finish the chapt in 1 lesson! if not do let me know if you all didn't finish it.
Easter: Defeating Doubt (John
20:1-10, 19-20, 24-31)
Every thinking person sometimes
wrestles with doubt. That’s true not only for thinking Christians, but also for
atheists and agnostics. They sometimes wonder, “What if I’m wrong and there
really is a God?” And every thinking Christian sometimes wonders, “What if I’m
wrong and Christianity is not true?” For some, the bouts with doubt are short
and relatively minor. For others, the doubts are deep and disturbing. But
wherever you’re at on the spectrum, if you’ve been a Christian for very long,
you have gone through battles with doubt.
While there are different biblical
answers to all of these sources of doubt, there is one answer that undergirds
them all. I usually come back to it when I’m struggling with doubt. The apostle
Paul said that the entire Christian
faith rests on one foundation, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead (1 Cor. 15:13-19). If that fact of history is true, then our faith has
a solid footing in spite of matters of doubt which we cannot, perhaps ever in
this life, fully resolve. On the other hand, if Jesus Christ is not risen from
the dead, then the strongest faith in the world is useless, because it rests on
a faulty object.
The evidence of Jesus Christ’s
resurrection gives us a solid footing in times of doubt. What if we doubt,
then? Does it mean we do not have faith, and we cannot be saved? Does it sometimes
feel natural to you, to doubt?
There are 2 kinds of doubters. The
first use their doubts as a smoke screen to hide behind their sin, which is the
real issue. If one area of doubt is cleared up, they will quickly duck behind
another, because they don’t want to submit to the Lord. These people do not
need more evidence to believe; they need to repent of their sin.
And then there is the doubter like
Doubting Thomas, who was an example of a sincere doubter. The sincere doubter
is truly a believer in Christ. He doesn’t want to doubt, but he’s plagued by
honest questions. He is in submission to God and wants to please Him, but he
can’t just close his eyes and take a leap of faith. He needs evidence to clear
up the doubts.
All
thinking people go through times of sincere doubt.
Some Reasons For Thomas’ Doubts:
A.
PERSONAL FAILURE COUPLED WITH THOMAS’ PERSONALITY TRIGGERED HIS DOUBTS.
All of the disciples had failed
Jesus on the night of His arrest and trial. Most notorious was Peter, who
denied the Lord three times. All of the eleven had promised Jesus their
loyalty, but they all deserted Him when He was arrested.
Thomas had been outspoken in his
loyalty to Jesus before the crucifixion.
In John 11:16, when Jesus wanted
to go to Bethany, near Jerusalem, to raise Lazarus from the dead, the disciples
objected that it was too dangerous. But Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we
may die with Him.”
He may have been a pessimist, but
at least he was loyal to the point of challenging the others to be committed to
the point of death. But then he had joined the others in running away when
Jesus was arrested. That failure led Thomas into depression and doubt.
It wasn’t just Thomas’ failure,
but failure coupled with his personality, that led him into deep doubts. Peter
had failed in a big way, too. But Peter was a buoyant, optimistic sort who felt
badly about his mistakes, but who could shrug it off and bounce back more
quickly. But Thomas was a conscientious, loyal, but gloomy type who did not
commit himself to something lightly. To commit himself to Jesus and then go
back on his word affected Thomas much more deeply than Peter’s failure affected
him.
We’re all wired differently and so
it’s important to know yourself so that you can be on guard against your areas
of weakness. Usually our areas of greatest strength are also our areas of
greatest weakness. A man like Thomas, who is loyal and conscientious, who takes
commitments seriously, is also more prone to depression and doubt when he
fails.
B.
A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING LED TO HIS DOUBTS.
Thomas lacked understanding with
regard to the Lord’s departure.
On the night before the
crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples that He was going to prepare a place for
them and that He would come again to take them to be with Him. He told them
that they knew the way where He was going. But Thomas didn’t understand, so he
blurted out (John 14:5), “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we
know the way?”
It was a good thing he asked
because Jesus’ reply was (14:6), “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no
one comes to the Father, but through Me.” But if you put yourself back into
that situation, with all of the confused emotions of that night, and with the
disciples’ still limited insight into Jesus’ death and resurrection, you can
see how Thomas would still be confused about what Jesus had meant. He lacked
understanding, which led to doubt.
There are many hard teachings in
Scripture, some of which we won’t resolve until we’re with the Lord. We have to
trust God, even when we don’t understand.
In John 6:60, many of those who
had followed Jesus turned away when He taught some hard things. Jesus even
asked the twelve if they would turn away also. Peter gave the great answer
(John 6:68-69), “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And
we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
I’ve come back to that answer many
times when I’ve struggled with doubt due to a lack of understanding. Jesus is
the truth. Where else can I go?
C.
DEEP DISAPPOINTMENT AND SHOCK OVER SUFFERING CONTRIBUTED TO HIS DOUBTS.
Even though Jesus repeatedly had
told the disciples in advance that He would be crucified, it didn’t sink in.
The disciples had expected the Messiah to be a conquering King. A crucified
Messiah wasn’t their expectation. When Thomas saw the badly mangled body of
Jesus on the cross, it sent him into shock. His emphasis on the wounds of Jesus
(John 20:25) shows how deeply it affected him. The bloody holes in Jesus’ hands
and feet, the gory spear wound in His side, and Jesus’ disfigurement from the
scourging and the crown of thorns, haunted Thomas after the crucifixion and fed
his doubts.
In the same way, whenever we face
deep disappointment and shock because of some tragedy or something that doesn’t
go as we had expected, we’re vulnerable to doubts. Perhaps you’ve lost a loved one
or faced a personal tragedy, or maybe just have things pan out in an unexpected
way. It’s a short step from there to being right where Thomas was, to doubting
the Lord: “If God really exists and is a God of love, then why is this
happening?”
D.
ISOLATION FROM FELLOW BELIEVERS FUELED HIS DOUBTS.
A fourth reason for Thomas’ doubts
was his isolation from other believers. A likely reason for his absence from
the other disciples that first Sunday when Jesus appeared to them was his
morose disposition. The last thing he wanted at a time like that was to be
around other people. So he wandered off by himself to brood over the horrible
events of the previous few days.
Then to add to his misery, when he
finally did see the others, they told him that they had seen the risen Lord! Even
though we’re often bugged by other believers, the fact is, we need them.
Whenever we separate ourselves from the fellowship, we make ourselves
vulnerable to doubt. (which is why it’s good to continue pestering your friends
who have been absent from church!)
Whatever the source of your
doubts, the solution is the same: to
come back to the foundational fact of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If that is true, then even though you may not understand everything, you still,
with Thomas, must bow and acknowledge Jesus to be your Lord and God.
The
evidence for the bodily resurrection of Jesus is solid. (Present the evidences,
ask them to pretend to be a non-believer and refute them)
A.
THE
EMPTY TOMB VERIFIES JESUS’ RESURRECTION.
(go through if asked)
There are several ways to account
for the empty tomb. Jesus’ enemies could have stolen the body. But they had no
motive for taking His body. It was to their advantage to leave it right where
it was, which is why they had Pilate put the Roman guard and seal on the tomb.
If they knew where the body was, they could have produced it and silenced the
disciples’ preaching.
Another possibility is that the
Roman guards stole the body. But again, they had no motive to do so. They
weren’t concerned about this Jewish religious trial. The Jewish leaders, who
were scrambling for ways to explain away the resurrection, didn’t accuse the
soldiers of taking the body or of allowing it to be stolen.
A third possibility is that the
disciples stole the body. This was the theory the Jewish leaders tried to
promote by bribing the Roman soldiers (Matt. 28:11-15).
But there are many reasons the disciples could not have moved Jesus’ body. The
tomb was as secure as the Roman guard could make it. The soldiers wouldn’t have
fallen asleep on their watch, because the penalty was death. The stone at the
tomb was large and heavy. Even if the soldiers had been sleeping, the noise of
a group of men moving the stone would have awakened them. Besides, the
disciples were too depressed and confused to try anything like grave robbery in
front of a Roman guard. Even if, through bribery, they had managed to remove
Jesus’ body, later they would not have risked their lives to preach the
resurrection if they knew it to be false.
Nor would they have suffered
beatings and threats if it had been confirmed that someone else had taken
Jesus’ body, which was the first thought of the women who visited the tomb
early that morning (John
20:2, 15). All we know of the character of
the witnesses as well as the fact that they did not yet understand the
Scripture that Jesus must rise again from the dead (John 20:9)
militates against them knowingly promoting a hoax. The empty tomb is solid
evidence that God raised Jesus bodily from the dead.
B.
THE GRAVE CLOTHES VERIFY JESUS’ RESURRECTION.
The presence of the grave clothes
proves that the body was not stolen.
(go through if asked):
Mary Magdalene didn’t look
carefully when she first came to the tomb. She saw the stone removed and
assumed that Jesus was gone. So she ran to tell Peter and John, who ran to the
tomb. John got there first and stood at the entrance looking in. Peter, in his
usual blustery manner, went right in and saw (20:6, Greek = “to gaze upon”) the
grave clothes. Then John entered, saw (Greek = “to see with understanding”) and
believed (20:8).
In their haste, grave robbers
would have taken the body, grave clothes and all. If for some reason they had
wanted to strip the body, they would have left the clothes strewn all over the
tomb. But Peter and John saw them left in an orderly fashion, as if Jesus had
passed right through them. Remember, these weren’t men who wished so much for a
resurrection that they perhaps saw what they wanted to see. These were men who
did not understand or believe at first (20:9). The evidence convinced them, and
their testimony of the evidence should convince us.
C.
THE POST-RESURRECTION APPEARANCES OF JESUS VERIFY HIS RESURRECTION.
John lists four post-resurrection
appearances of Jesus: To Mary Magdalene (20:11-18); to the disciples except
Thomas (20:19-23); to the disciples, including Thomas (20:24-31); and, to seven
of the disciples, by the Sea of Galilee (21:1-25). Paul mentions several other
appearances, including one to over 500 at one time (1 Cor. 15:6-8).
The most drastic way of dismissing
the evidence would be to say that these stories were mere fabrications, that
they were pure lies. But, so far as I know, not a single critic today would
take such an attitude. In fact, it would really be an impossible position.
Think of the number of witnesses, over 500. Think of the character of the
witnesses, men and women who gave the world the highest ethical teaching it has
ever known, and who even on the testimony of their enemies lived it out in
their lives. Think of the psychological absurdity of picturing a little band of
defeated cowards cowering in an upper room one day and a few days later
transformed into a company that no persecution could silence—and then
attempting to attribute this dramatic change to nothing more convincing than a
miserable fabrication they were trying to foist upon the world. That simply
wouldn’t make sense.
The varied circumstances of the
appearances and the different personalities of the witnesses militate against
hallucinations or visions. Whether Thomas actually put his hand in Jesus’
wounds is not stated, but Jesus made the offer and Thomas was convinced (John 20:27).
The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are a strong evidence of His bodily
resurrection.
D.
THE CHANGED LIVES OF THE WITNESSES VERIFY JESUS’ RESURRECTION.
As I already said, John calls
attention to the fact that none of the witnesses was expecting a resurrection.
Mary Magdalene thought that someone had taken Jesus’ body (20:2, 15). The
disciples were fearful and confused. Thomas was depressed and doubting. But all
were transformed into the bold witnesses of the Book of Acts because they became
convinced that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. They were so convinced that the
resurrection was true that many of them went on to martyrs’ deaths.
E.
THE UNIQUE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST VERIFIES HIS RESURRECTION.
Study the Gospel accounts of who
Jesus was, of what He taught, of the miracles He performed, of the prophecies
He fulfilled. On more than one occasion He predicted His own death and
resurrection (John
2:19-22; Luke 9:22).
His encounter with doubting Thomas shows that His purpose was to bring Thomas into a place of full faith in His deity
(20:27).
When Thomas answered, “My Lord and
my God,” Jesus did not rebuke or correct him for overstating things. Rather,
Jesus commended Thomas’ correct perception and faith (20:28-29). A merely good
teacher, especially a devout Jewish rabbi, would never accept such worship from
a follower. Everything in the Gospel accounts about Jesus’ person and teaching
militates against His being a charlatan or lunatic. The only sensible option is
that He is who He claimed to be, the Lord God in human flesh, the Christ of
Israel, the eternal Son of God.
He offered Himself for our sins
and God raised Him bodily from the dead. He wants those of us who have not seen
Him to believe in Him (20:29).
Conclusion
Does the evidence about Jesus’
resurrection clear up all our doubts about God and the Bible? No, nothing this
side of heaven will do that. But it does provide a solid basis for intelligent
faith in those times when we struggle with doubt. To whom else will you go? Jesus alone is the risen Savior. His
desire for each of us who have not seen Him is that, like Thomas, we would “not
be unbelieving, but believing” (20:27). He wants each of us to recognize that
He, our Lord and God, died in our place, taking the penalty we deserved for our
sin. He wants us to join Thomas in believing worship, proclaiming, “My Lord and
my God!”
If you wait to trust in Christ
until all of your doubts are cleared up, you’re not an honest doubter. Rather,
you’re using your doubts as an excuse so that you can hold onto your sin. Would
you choose repentance or alienation from God and death? Will you trust in Jesus
as your Savior and Lord?
Application Questions
- How can a person know whether his doubts are
sincere or whether they are just an excuse? Are sincere doubts sin?
- Is biblical faith a “blind leap”? If not, how
does it differ?
- Is it possible to live without faith in
something? Are materialistic humanists purely rational? How can we witness
to them?
- Why is it crucial to base our faith in the fact
of Christ’s resurrection rather than on our personal religious experience?
Done by: Gail
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